I walk straight to math class, hoping to see Josh there. I really missed him and am excited to be with him in a normal environment. And hopefully, he wasn't going off on that 'everything's going to be better' spiel.
I step through the door and my eyes immediately find Josh sitting in his seat. As soon as we make eye contact, a huge smile spreads over his face. I can't help smiling back as I walk over to my seat.
"Evie! You're here!" Josh exclaims when I set my backpack down next to my seat and sit down.
"I know! It's magic!" I respond sarcastically.
"Just in time for the math test!" He says, while trying not to laugh at my expense. My smile turns into horror as I turn to the board and see that it says 'Math Test Today'.
"What? Not fair! I wasn't even here!" I say loudly.
"Well, I suggest you go talk to her." Josh says while pointing to the door. A second later, Mrs. Flemington walks into the room.
I quickly jump out of my seat and walk towards her desk. She reaches her desk a few seconds before me. She puts her laptop and folders down on her desk and looks up at me.
"Welcome back Evie. How are you?" Mrs. Flemington asks me nicely.
"I'm good, but I was wondering about the math test today." I say hesitantly.
"Oh yes, you missed a few days. Well, you will have to catch up in order to take the test," she gives me a knowing smile, knowing that I don't want to take the test, "instead of taking the test, how about you grab your math book and work on the problems we did during the days of your absence." Mrs. Flemington suggests.
"Yes, I think that would be a good idea." I respond sheepishly.
"Okay," she says enthusiastically, "get the problems that you missed from someone around you and I'm going to ask you to go into the hall so we don't have any cheaters."
"Of course. Thank you." I say. I turn around and see that Josh is smirking at me. I poke my tongue out as I reach my desk.
"She said I didn't have to do it." I say smugly.
His smirk drops and instead turns into a playfully angry expression, "That's not fair."
"Well I was in a hospital." I remind him childly.
"Well I had to come and visit you in the hospital." He retorts.
"Oh, well I'm so sorry for your lost," I say sarcastically, "can I have the problems you guys did in class and for homework while I was gone?"
"For what," he asks, but I can see that he understands a second later when a smug smile spreads across his face, "you have to do all the problems we missed, don't you? All right now."
"Yeah, so? I don't have to take a test today." I retort just as smugly. I have him there as his smile drops.
"Whatever. I'm going to ace this test." Josh says.
"Problems please." I respond, still smug because I know I won.
Josh digs into his backpack and pulls out a folder. He then pulls out a bunch of papers from inside the folder and hands them to me. Josh looks at me expectantly.
"What?" I ask, glancing at the papers.
Josh smirks, "Your problems. Well, math problems that is."
"Wow, you're organized." I say sarcastically. Nevertheless, I take the papers and start writing down the problems that I have to do.
A minute into my math problem writing, Mrs. Flemington starts talking, "Alright you know what today is class. Please put everything away and get out your calculators and pencils. Evie, please go into the hall."
I nod at her, grab the papers with all the problems written down, grab my math textbook and stand up and walk to the door. Once I'm at the door, I turn around and mouth 'good luck' to Josh. He smiles in return. I exit the classroom and drop my stuff onto the floor a few feet away. I sit next to my stuff and grab a random piece of paper with math problems on it. Opening my math book to the correct page, I start the long process of catching up on the work.
"Evie," I jump suddenly at Mrs. Flemington's voice, "class is almost over and everyone has finished their test. You can come back in."
"Okay, I'll be right in." I respond as my heart calms down from the jump scare. Mrs. Flemington smiles in return and walks back into the classroom. I pile up the problems I've finished and the problems I still need to do. I grab my math book and papers, stand up, and head back into the room.
When I enter the room, I immediately spot Josh looking at me smugly. I cock my eyebrow in confusion as I walk to my desk.
"Aced it." He says smugly as I sit down.
I scoff at him, "I'm pretty sure she lied to you."
"No," Josh responded hotly, "I know I aced that test."
"Keep telling yourself that." I snicker.
"Stop being such a bully Evie." Josh whines.
"Stop being such a baby." I mimic him.
"Shut up." He mumbles and I laugh at him.
The bell rings and I finish putting my stuff in my backpack. I see Josh stand up with his backpack and start walking towards the door. Of course he wouldn't wait for me.
I pick up my backpack and follow him out the door. Josh is there leaning against the wall right outside the classroom. I grin at him.
"I thought you were going to ditch me."
"Me? Ditch you? How could you suggest such a thing?" Josh says sarcastically with mock hurt.
"You're so full of crap." I say smiling. Josh scoffs at me but doesn't respond.
We reach my communications class and stop. I look at Josh.
"It's nice to see you back Evie." He says.
"It's nice to be back," I respond, "see you in science."
"See you." Josh respond as he starts walking to his next class.
I enter the classroom and immediately here my name being squealed.
"Evie!" Katherine squeals as she rushes over to me. She tackles me into a hug and I try to control my face from turning red from embarrassment.
"Katherine." I say breathily as she squeezes me so hard I almost can't breathe.
"Where have you been?" Katherine asks as she lets go of me.
I wince. I was hoping that she wouldn't ask me that. Katherine seemed to sense my hesitation and dropped the subject.
"Anyway, you missed a ton, kind of. We finished the movie, and took a few quizzes on Romeo and Juliet, and we read some more." Katherine rambles about what they did while I was gone. As she is talking, we both head toward our seats.
"Well, that sounds like fun." I say dully as I sit down. Katherine follows my lead and sits down in her desk next to mine.
"Yep. Tons of fun." Katherine responds sarcastically.
I laugh at her sarcastic tone, but am interrupted by Mr. Johnston.
"Evie, it's good to see you back. How are you." He called from the front of the room.
"I'm good, Mr. Johnston." I respond smiling.
"That's good. Could you come see me when there is free work time today?" He asks. I can guess that he wants to see me to tell me what I need to catch up on.
"Sure." I respond. Mr. Johnston smiles, but turns his head to a student who is probably asking for help. I turn my head to Katherine, who is looking at me.
"What?" I ask her, suspicious of why she was looking at me.
"Will you tell me why you were gone?" She asks quietly.
I hesitate to respond. I want to tell her, but that could be too many people who know. I don't want my private life to be known by everyone. I could tell her half of the truth, that I was sick, but not that I was at the hospital.
"I was sick. Really, really sick." I say quietly.
"Well, that's not terrible." She says in the same quiet tone as me.
"It was bad enough that I had to stay home for a few days." I respond, still almost whispering.
"Well," Katherine says louder, "I guess we will have to make up for that time." An understanding smile crosses Katherine's face and I smile back at her.
"Alright class, the bell has rung. Time for Romeo and Juliet." Mr. Johnston starts class. Strange, I didn't hear the bell, probably too busy talking to Katherine.
Mr. Johnston starts class by going over what we have just read. I pay attention, hoping that I won't have too much stuff to catch up on.
"Today, I want you to work in a small group and we are going to reenact what we have just read." Mr. Johnston is interrupted by cheers coming from multiple people, including Katherine.
"I thought you guys would like that. We will perform these in two days, so make sure you and your group are ready. Get to it." Mr. Johnston finishes explaining. Not even a second after he finishes talking, the class erupts into small conversations.
"Evie, you're with me." Katherine says immediately.
"Do I have a choice?" I ask, though even if I did have a choice, I would still choose to be in her group.
"No."
I chuckle at Katherine's bluntness, "Alright. I'll be right with you, I just have to go to talk to Mr. Johnston." I stand up and walk to Mr. Johnston's desk.
"You wanted to talk to me." I say.
"Yes. How's your day back?" He asks, catching me off guard. I thought he would go immediately to the stuff that I needed to catch up on.
"It's good to be back." I respond truthfully.
"That's good. Now I know you probably already got this conversation, but we need to talk about what you missed while you were gone." Mr. Johnston chuckles at my facial expression, which probably turned into some type of scowl.
"Knew this was coming." I mumble.
Mr. Johnston chuckles again, "I know. It's not fun. But luckily in this class you didn't miss much." I sigh in relief.
"Let's see," Mr. Johnston says, "you missed the ending of the movie. You can borrow it if you want to see the rest of it, but otherwise you should be fine. We took a quiz on what we have read so far, you will need to take that. Other than that, I don't think there is anything else. There was no homework due to the movie and the quiz so you're off the hook there."
I smile, "It's okay, I've already seen the movie. I can come in early tomorrow and take the quiz."
"That will work for me. But I thought you would have wanted to study a bit more for it." Mr. Johnston responds.
"I'll go over everything tonight and be ready by tomorrow. I've read Romeo and Juliet before anyway. I remember quite a lot." I assure him.
"Alright, tomorrow morning it is. Thank you Evie." Mr. Johnston says.
I smile in return and head back to my desk. Already, I see Katherine talking to other people who are probably in our group. I get to my desk and sit down. Katherine is in the middle of giving people roles. I'm pretty sure she appointed herself group leader, not that anyone seemed to mind. Katherine makes a great leader.
"Evie, finally you've returned. We are discussing characters and who's playing who." Katherine gave me a quick explanation of what I had missed.
Looking around at the people who are apparently in our group, there are five of us. Katherine and I, Grant who I recognized from being in a group with him on one of my first days and he's also Katherine's friend, then one other girl and one other guy. I looked at them through the corner of my eye. They both looked familiar, I think they each are in one of my other classes, but I don't know which one.
"Oh," my thoughts were cut of by Katherine's exclamation, "how stupid am I? Don't answer that. Anyway, Evie, this is Henry and Delilah. Henry and Delilah, this is Evie."
"Hi." I say shyly. They both give me a huge smile which immediately settles my nerves.
"Hey Evie. I love your hair. Is it dyed?" Delilah asks me looking fascinated.
I laugh, "No, it's natural."
"Wow, it's so pretty." Delilah exclaims.
"Thanks." I respond, feeling more shy now than I was before I met her.
"Alright, now that we've all met each other, let's get to work," Katherine says immediately. I chuckle at her excitement, "we are doing the scene where Romeo goes to the masquerade ball and sees Juliet for the first time."
"I want to be Juliet." Delilah quickly calls a role.
"Okay, if everyone's okay with that," Katherine pauses and we all nod, "Delilah is Juliet. We need a Romeo, a Mercutio, a Tybalt, and a Benvolio. Sorry Evie, you and I got to be guys."
"That's fine. I don't mind playing a guy." I say to Katherine.
"Alright, start calling out roles people," Katherine says to the group, "I would prefer either Grant or Henry to play Romeo." Katherine looks pointedly at Grant and Henry.
"There's no kissing in this scene, right?" Henry asks.
"No, but there is dancing. Which will be in our scene." Katherine responds.
"As long as there's no kissing, I'll be Romeo." Henry says.
"Perfect. Grant, who do you want to be?" Katherine asks Grant.
"I'll be Tybalt. He's a fun character." Grant says.
"Okay. Grant is Tybalt. Evie, your choice." Katherine asks me while writing down who's playing who.
I think about it for a moment before responding, "I'll be Benvolio. If you didn't want to be him." I tell Katherine. I wouldn't mind being Mercutio if Katherine wanted to be Benvolio.
"No it's fine. I'll be Mercutio," Katherine says as she finishes writing down the characters, "now let's write the script."
The rest of the block passes quickly as we write our script. Per Katherine's demand, we can only use lines from the play.
All too soon, the bell rings, signaling lunch. I put my stuff in my backpack and get out my lunchbox. I follow Katherine out of the classroom and we start walking to the cafeteria.
"What were you sick with?" Katherine suddenly asks me after a couple minutes of silence.
I hesitate, not wanting to create a big lie that I can't remember, "It was some version of the flu, I think."
"Oh, that sucks." Katherine says bluntly.
I laugh at her bluntness, "Yeah, it definitely sucked."
We reached the lunch room and I immediately spot Katherine's group. I smile when they wave us over. We walk over and sit down next to each other.
"Evie, you've returned!" Taylor exclaims.
I laugh at her excitement, "Yes! I've returned from the dead!" I joke.
Laughter erupts at the table at my lame joke. I think they're just laughing to make me feel better, but it's okay. It feels pretty nice. Lunch continues at a very brisk pace and all too soon, it's over. The bell rings, telling us to get out of the lunch room and go to our next class. Katherine and I leave together.
"See you in gym." Katherine says as we walk down the hall.
I groan, "Thanks for reminding me."
Katherine laughs, "No problem." She waves as she goes into her classroom.
I keep on walking to French. Hopefully I don't have much to catch up on. Luckily, French is easy for me so catch up work shouldn't be hard for me.
I reach the classroom and walk in. Scanning the room to find Madame Cooper, I find her at the back of the classroom. As I walk towards her, I pause at my desk to drop my backpack next to it.
I reach Madame Cooper in the back, "Bonjour Madame Cooper." I say.
She turns around and looks surprised, "Bonjour Evie. It's nice to see you back."
"It's nice to be back," I respond, "but I was wondering about what I need to catch up on."
"Oh yes. Please follow me to my desk." Madame Cooper says as she starts walking to her desk. I do as she says and follow her to her desk.
"Well, let's see," Madame Cooper starts, "we did a few in class activities, but I know you're pretty proficient at French so I'm not too worried about those. We did, however, have a few worksheets as homework which I would like you to do. As she's saying this, she hands me three green worksheets.
"Alright, is that all?" I ask her as I look at the sheets.
"Oui, merci." Madame Cooper says.
"Merci." I respond. I turn around and head to my desk. I reach my desk and sit down and immediately start working on the worksheets. Hopefully I can finish these before class ends today.
"Hey Evie." My concentration is interrupted by a girls voice. I turn to see who it is, and am surprised to see Delilah sitting next to me.
"Oh, hey Delilah. I didn't know you were in this class." I respond as I turn back to my work.
"Yeah, I didn't know you were in this class either, until I saw your hair." She says almost sheepishly.
I laugh, "Yeah, it's pretty noticeable."
Delilah also laughs, "What are you working on?"
"Just the stuff I missed." I respond with a bored tone.
"That sucks," she say and I nod in agreement. Delilah's voice turns into a whisper, "but if you want some help, I finished those worksheets."
I smile at her offer and also respond in a whisper, "Thanks, but I think I got it."
"Bonjour class." Madame Cooper interrupts our conversation and starts class. Instead of listening, I decide to continue my work.
By the end of French class, I caught up with all I missed and even finished tonight's homework. I pack up my backpack a minute before the bell rings. Delilah and I had been talking all class and I found out she's actually pretty awesome. The bell rings and we walk out of class together.
"Where are you headed to?" Delilah asks me as we walk down the hallway.
"Science. How about you?" I ask her.
"Math. It's going to suck, I have a test today." Delilah responds with a groan.
"Ouch." I respond.
"Tell me about it. This is my classroom. See you." Delilah says as she stops at a classroom doorway.
"Good luck." I respond with a wave as I keep on walking. Delilah waves back as she walks into the classroom. I walk to science and I feel my excitement rising at the prospect of seeing Josh again.
I walk into science and see Josh is already at our science table. He smiles at me when I reach our table. I smile back at him as I put my backpack down.
"Be right back," I say quickly. I turn around before he can respond and head to Mr. Koll's desk.
"Mr. Koll," I say as I reach his desk, "I was wondering about the homework and class work I missed."
"Evie, welcome back. How are you?" Mr. Koll asks me, completely ignoring what I said.
"I'm good." I say, trying to keep the irritation out of my voice.
"Yes. Anyway, we took some notes that you can get from your lab partners. We also did a couple of labs which you can also get from your lab partners." Mr. Koll finally gives me the response that I want.
"Thank you." I respond. I turn around and walk back to my lab table.
"Josh, I need your notes again." I tell him as I sit down.
"Again," Josh says exasperated, "why can't you do anything yourself." Josh smiles and I know he doesn't really mean it.
"Whatever Josh. Can I just see the notes and labs I missed?" I playfully glare at him.
Josh laughs at me, "You look so cute when you glare." He mimics my glare as he hands overs the papers.
"Shut up Josh." I respond hotly. I try to hide my smile at Josh's face, which is still mimicking my glare. Taking the papers from him, I get out a pencil and start copying his work.
Josh catches my hidden smile and he starts laughing at me. I ignore him as I continue to copy his work. I ignore him for the rest of the hour, not that we could talk anyway. We had a test today, one which I was forced to take, but it was easy.
At the end of the block, I hand Josh back his work and put my stuff away. My happy mood decreases wince I realize that I have gym next. I groan out loud.
"What's up?" Josh must have heard my groan.
"Gym." I moan.
Josh looks thoughtful for a second, "Why don't you ask Mr. Guy if you could sit out?"
"That's such a great idea." I exclaim.
"Of course it is. It was my idea." Josh says cockily. I scoff at his cockiness and wisely choose not to respond.
We leave science and silence settles over us as Josh walks me to gym class. I think we both just don't know what to say. But I know I don't want to be the one to start the conversation. Neither does Josh I presume. We reach the gym a minute later.
"Bye Evie." Josh says with a wave as he turns around to head to his class,
"See you." I wave back as I turn around.
I walk into the dreaded gym class and see that I am one of the first to get here. I notice that Mr. Guy is standing off the side, looking around the gym. His eyes land on me and I start walking over to him.
"Afternoon." I start. I want to try and convince him that I shouldn't do gym today. However, I don't think that will happen, he is super into his job.
"Evie, how are you?" He asks me, catching me by surprise.
"I'm better." I say, not really sure if I should say something else.
"That's good," he says absentmindedly but quickly snaps to attention, "however, I got a call from your parents."
I groan, interrupting whatever he was saying. Of course my parents called. Why did I expect them not to?
Mr. Guy gives a short chuckle, "Well, they said for you to take it easy for the next few days. We are starting the soccer unit today and that will go on for about a week. At your parents persistence, you will be sitting out today and possibly tomorrow, unless you feel up to it."
I grin, "Thanks Mr. Guy." I turn around and head to the locker room to drop off my stuff.
"You still have to get changed in order to get your points for today." He calls after me.
I groan again, that doesn't make any sense. I turn around and see that he's already talking to another student. An exasperated sigh comes out of my mouth as I reach the locker room.
I enter the locker room and immediately hear Katherine. I smile as I follow her voice.
"Evie! What's up? It's been like two hours since we've seen each other!" She says sarcastically.
I laugh at her while she twirls her hair on one finger and juts out her hips. I copy her actions, "I know right." I say, elongating the word 'right'.
She laughs at me and turns around to finish changing, "So, do you know what we will be doing today?"
"Yeah, Mr. Guy said we will be starting soccer today." I respond as I put my stuff down and open my locker to change into my gym clothes.
"Yes! I love soccer! I hope we're on the same team." Katherine says excitedly.
"I'm not playing today, remember I just returned from being sick." I remind her, trying not to sound smug.
"Evie," she whines, "why do you have to ruin everything?"
"Me, ruin everything? Yeah right." I scoff at her whining. I finish changing into my stupid gym clothes while Katherine talks to another girl.
"If you're sitting out, why the hell are you changing?" Katherine suddenly asks me.
I frown, "Mr. Guy said I have to."
Katherine starts laughing, "That's what you get for sitting out."
"Whatever. You're just jealous." I respond with mock anger.
Katherine's laughing stops and she playfully glares at me, "Well I like soccer." She finally says, sounding smug.
I laugh at her attempted retort. Katherine smiles back a second later. She holds out her arm to me and I wrap my arm around hers. We walk arm in arm out of the locker room and into the gym.
We head toward the middle of the gym were students were already there. We sit down around the outskirts of the students.
"Today," Mr. Guy shouts out a minute later, "we are starting our soccer unit." He is interrupted by a few cheers and a few groans.
"We are starting today with teams. Two of your fellow students will be team captains and will pick their teams." Mr. Guy pauses and lets that sink in.
"Alright, team captains," Mr. Guy shouts continues, "Ashton and Elijah. I know you guys will make it competitive."
Ashton and that guy that came to our table this morning, Elijah, both get up laughing. I know they must be pretty good friends. They stand next to Mr. Guy who holds out a coin.
"Call it Ashton." He says while flicking the coin upward.
"Tails." Ashton responds quickly.
The coin lands, "Tails it is. You pick first Ashton." Mr. Guys says as he picks up the coin and walks to the side.
Ashton's eyes start scanning the students. I roll my eyes and look at Katherine. She rolls her eyes back at me. We both know we'll be some of the last students picked. Well she'll be, I'll be sitting out.
"Evie." I hear my name and my head snaps to the speaker, Ashton. His blue eyes are trained on me.
My mouth opens a little in shock. I stare at him bewildered. Why the hell would he pick me, unless it's some type of trick? Before I can say anything, Mr. Guy steps in.
"Sorry Ashton, that one's out for today. She has a note. Please pick someone else." He says. I mentally thank Mr. Guy for responding. I nod to Ashton to tell him that I am sitting out. Ashton's hopeful expression drops and I look back towards Katherine.
"What the hell was that?" She whispers to me.
"I have no clue." I respond. Out of the corner of my eye, I see a guy get up and join Ashton's side. Then the competition starts.
Elijah immediately chooses someone, a girl, and smirks at Ashton. Ashton then retaliates by choosing another person, another girl, to join his team. They go back and forth until just a few people are left, including Katherine.
"I'll watch you from the side lines." I whisper to her as I start getting up. Katherine responds by giving me daggers. I shrug, knowing she's jealous that I get to sit out.
I stand up, ignoring all the people who are watching me, and walk to the side of the gym near the locker rooms. I hear Katherine's name being called and I watch as she walks over to Ashton's team. She gives me more daggers as she stands around the other people in her team. I know she's not happy to be on his team. I respond with another shrug.
The last person is called, he goes to Elijah's team, and Mr. Guy goes out in between the two teams, "Alright, I want a fair game. No cheating, no rough housing, you know the rules. Game starts at the whistle blow."
Mr. Guy places the soccer ball in the middle of the gym between the two teams. He then walks away from the teams and comes towards me. I see the two teams each huddle up to probably decide who's playing what position or something like that. I watch as a student, one from each team, goes to be the goalie. Both teams spread out on their respective sides. Ashton and Elijah both go stand in the middle, each about two feet from the soccer ball.
I look on Ashton's side and spot Katherine. She waves at me and gives me a thumbs up. Determination suddenly covers her face as she looks back towards Ashton and Elijah. I follow her lead and also look at them.
My gaze is caught in Ashton's gaze. His blue eyes stare into my green ones. He looks almost saddened by my sitting out. I look away and instead focus on the floor. Why the hell would he care that I'm sitting out?
Mr. Guy's whistle shrills out and I jump at the noise. The game begins.
"That was so much fun!" Katherine gushes in the locker room. Her face is flushed from all the running in watched her do.
"Yeah, so much fun." I say sarcastically. While she was having the time of her life playing soccer, I had to sit on the side lines watching. It was the most boring part of the day.
"Well, that's what you get for sitting out." Katherine playfully reprimands me. I lightly shove her shoulder as my response because I can't think of a verbal one.
We finish changing and grab our stuff right as the bell rings. Katherine and I head out of the changing rooms and start heading towards the buses.
"Why don't you take the bus?" Katherine asks me as we walk outside.
"I don't know. I guess I never found the right bus to take and it's more convenient." I respond thoughtfully. I never wondered why I didn't take the bus, it was just easier I guess.
"Alright, well see you." Katherine says.
"Bye Katherine." I respond as I turn around and head back into the school. I walk through the school to the front of the school. The buses are all the way in the back so it takes a couple minutes. I reach the front and immediately spot my mom's car. I head out of the school and go to her car. Opening the door, I get in and my mom takes off.
"How do you feel, sweetie?" She asks immediately.
I groan, knowing that this question was going to pop up, "I'm fine mom."
"Evie, you just got out of the hospital. We need to make sure you're still not sick or anything." She reprimands me. I don't grace her response with my own response and we settle into silence.
When we reach the house, I get out quickly and, using the excuse of homework, go straight to my room.
"Please don't bother me!" I shout down right before I close my door. I go straight to my radio and turn it on. Music always helps me do homework, but at this point, there's a commercial on. I groan and curse the radio station in my head.
I plop my backpack on my bed and follow right after. I get out everything I need to do tonight for tomorrow. I start the long process of catching up on schoolwork.